Everyone in the offshore industry has seen the safety video and probably got the t-shirt but platform evacuation methods are one safety procedure which everyone pays attention to. Accidents happen, it’s a fact of life, managing the risk and likelihood of an emergency situation is how we operate in a potentially life threatening environment offshore. 

There are however more potential situations and real life musters than we’d like to think there are and it’s something we never want to see for real. There have been headline accidents over the years and we always try to learn as an industry how we can reduce the likelihood of the same situation happening again.

Actions taken in the critical moment of an emergency situation can literally mean the difference between life and death. “Human factors play a major role in platform musters and their successful outcome” (*). The combination of our multicultural industry and an ever changing transient workforce increases the potential for misunderstandings during a muster checkers roll call, elevated stress levels and time restrictions only serve to exacerbate the risk. The potential loss of control during an emergency situation has untold ramifications. 

Effective management of the Personnel On Board (POB) is one of the most important but understated elements of our industry and the one system in an emergency which does not get a second chance to work correctly. 

Performing a muster with Smart-Trac simplifies the muster process by eliminating the opportunity for roll call mistakes through positive recognition for the individual and the muster checker. The information is updated as it happens and provides ‘real-time’ information for the OIM and Emergency Response team, remote viewing can also be configured. The automation of the process eliminates non-essential radio communications and leaves the emergency team free to deal with the emergency situation. 

“Human factors play a major role in platform musters and their successful outcome”

The system operates using a fully redundant wireless network and tough handheld units which are incredibly flexible as musters are not confined to a fixed location or area. Personnel can be located in the safest place to perform the muster whether internally or externally.


Individuals can muster at an alternative location to their allocated location and still be accounted for safely. Missing personnel can quickly be identified minimising personnel resource requests. Every eventuality has been considered and the system has engineered redundancy and is able to cope with complete facility power failure and still continue to operate independently. The increased speed and 100% accuracy of the system ensures that personnel can be accounted for quickly and evacuated as rapidly as possible.

References:
(*) Kennedy B. (1993). A human factors analysis of evacuation, escape and rescue from offshore operations. Report No. OTO 93 004, Health and Safety Executive, UK.